Between

"Between is the only honest place to be."

-- Lionel Trilling

No, not between a rock and a hard place! Though, that, too, could be seen as the Buddha's Middle Way. But what Lionel and I are talking about is that space between the two extremes where the truth hides in plain sight. At no time is that more apparent than now, during election season. Candidates stake out there positions to emphasize the difference between themselves and their opponents. In truth, both positions contains nuggets of truth. In the gap between is where clear-headed thinking leads us.

Lionel was a literary critic. His bread and butter was finely nuanced arguments that showed both sides of various positions. He was like an economist in the sense that economists are famous for making predictions, and then saying "On the other hand..." This is what led Harry Truman to make the statement that "What the country needs is a good one-handed economist." And while, like Harry, we'd all like reality to be simple, many times, it's just not.

By inhabiting the space between, you get the best view of the mountainous terrain on either side of you. You can see both the fingers of gold and the sinkholes inherent in each position. Between is not necessarily compromise, but it is synthesis. When you are between, you can take the best, and leave the rest, from each extreme.

So, today, look at the polarities all around you. And then choose to deconstruct the extremes and create an upgraded between. It doesn't matter if the extremes are Democrat versus Republican, Arab v.s. Jew, or you in a disagreement with your teenager. The truth lies between. Today, climb down off your high horse, take the low road to honesty, and know the true freedom of between.